Hear Karima Francis's top ten tunes

Singer-songwriter Karima Francis has a soft spot for Van Morrison and elevator music

Published on March 25th 2009.

Tell us about yourselfI write songs in themes, and I like to play with words to fit my emotions. I also try to play the guitar but generally am more out of time than in...

What types of music do you like?My favourite kind of music is what you could called minimal and acoustic, but that is sometimes beaten by elevator music and music in stores where they pay other people to sing pop classics. That is funny!

What is the song that means the most to you and why?It's almost impossible to say what song means most to me. Some people can be affected more by words but I am affected more by the music… I'm going to say Van Morrison’s ‘Sweet Thing’ because it reveals every sense to me. I suddenly begin to smell and taste again when I hear this song. Every piece of every place I spent with my love comes back to me a dozen times over.

What are your top ten favourite songs?

1 'Anna Begins' by Counting Crows2 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic' by The Police3 'The Blower's Daughter' by Damien Rice4 'Dolphins' by Tim Buckley5 'Old Friends' by Simon and Garfunkel6 'Round Here' by Counting Crows7 'True Colors' by Cyndi Lauper8 'Lover, You Should Have Come Over' by Jeff Buckley9 'Sweet Thing' by Van Morrison10 'No Quarter' by Led Zeppelin

Karima's début album, 'The Author', is out on Kitchenware Records now. She'll be playing at the album launch at The Deaf Institute, Grosvenor Street, on Wednesday 25 March.

Awful, awful, awful. Pretentious misery for the same sad sacks who enjoy Damien Rice, James Morrisson, Blunt The Cxnt and Cold Patrol. No record company makeover (Bob Dylan?... gis a break!) can hide the fact that this is cat-mewling disguised as emotion. Please, stay in your bedsit.